Mercer County narcotics task force raids Trenton gambling hall

TRENTON — The luck ran out for three ringleaders of an illegal city gambling hall on Monday.

Monday’s raid, which netted six arrests, was the culmination of a three-month investigation into illegal gambling at 286 North Willow Avenue in Trenton, the Mercer County Prosecutors office said on Wednesday.

On Monday at about 12 p.m. officers with the Special Investigations Unit raided 286 North Willow Street after the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office received numerous complaints about illegal gambling and a lot of money going in and out of the location. Raids were conducted on five locations, three in Trenton and two in Hamilton. Raided were 286 North Willow Avenue, 406 Rutherford Avenue and 102 Monument Place, in Trenton. In Hamilton, 17 Crawford Court and 1534 Chambers Street were raided.

When officers with the multi-agency task force entered 286 North Willow Street, they found that the residence had been renovated into a gambling hall where individuals could place bets. Vincent Lacey, 45, of Hamilton, an operation head, was found inside of the residence along with multiple other individuals. A search of the home turned up a loaded Taurus semi-automatic handgun between two refrigerators and more than $6,000. The prosecutor’s office said Lacey had more that $3,000 and betting slips on him at the time of the raid. A laptop computer, two printers, rolls of betting slip paper and miscellaneous sports schedules were found inside of a room converted to an office where individuals would place bets through a glass window. Lacey’s 2002 BMW 750, which was parked in front of the residence, was also seized as gambling proceeds.

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The task force arrested another ringleader 26-year-old Jovan Bryant of Trenton at 406 Rutherford Avenue where a search turned up $575 in cash, two laptops, a printer, betting slips and gambling stubs.

The third man, 67-year-old Alvin Brown of Hamilton, was located at 17 Crawford Court along with cash and betting slips.

Betting slips and a loaded .38 caliber Ruger handgun were found at 1534 Chambers Street and approximately 1,900 was found at 102 Monument Place. Additionally a 2003 Mercedes Benz was seized as gambling proceeds.

In total, more than $12,000 in cash was seized. A bank account belonging to Vincent Lacey was also frozen pending further investigation.

Brown, Bryant and Lacey were each charged with maintaining a gambling resort and possession of gambling records. Bryant was additionally charged with possession of a weapon, certain persons not to possess a weapon and receiving stolen property for a fully-loaded Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun that was found under the front seat of his 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe.

Brown’s bail was set at $75,000. Lacey’s and Bryant’s bail was set at $100,000 each. Source hearings were ordered for each defendant’s bail. All three men were transported to the Mercer County Correction Center.

Three city men were also arrested during the raids. Edward Butler and Charles Gilliard, both 27, were charged with possession of marijuana. Japeth Miller. 32, was charged with possession of a weapon and certain persons not to possess a weapon and Charles Gilliard.

The multi-agency task force consisted of officers from SIU, the county Sheriff’s Office, the New Jersey State Police, the state Division of Criminal Justice, and the Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrence and Trenton police departments.